Wiggles and Shimmies

fjmartin · 09-25-2017, 12:49 AM

I started to notice a couple of things of concern with my RX3 recently.

1) When going about 30 miles per hour if I loosen my grip on the bars they start wiggling back and forth and grow until I grab on.

2) When using the front brake the bike was shimmying forcing me to use mostly rear brake

3) Bike wasn't feeling steady going down the road.

4) slow speed maneuvering caused "head shaking"

So, I put the bike up on the center stand and put weight on the rear of the bike to keep the front wheel off the ground. I grabbed the front wheel and pulled it and there was movement and a clunk. I check the wheel bearings and shock and then the steering area. Turned out it was coming from the top of the triple clamp.

The maint schedule for checking over the steering bearings is 12000 miles and I'm at 13,6100. I wanted to wait until deep winter to do this project as I was a bit timid to work on this part of the bike.

But I decided to dive in and it only took 3 hours soup to nuts to get things fixed.

I started by removing my RAM mounts and then putting some towels around the tank and plastics. I marked the bars and clamp to make sure to get the bars back to the same spot. I unbolted the handlebar clamps and laid them down on the tank. I then removed the two bolts that hold the handlebar base. I then removed the two screws for the plastic cap around the ignition and removed the plastic. I unscrewed the silver cap and washer I then loosened the two hex bolts on each side of the top of the triple clamp holding the shocks. Once I did that I could pull up and remove the top triple clamp. Then I was able to remove the bearing pre-load nut. Once I did this the front wheel and forks dropped down. This allowed me to reach under and put a bunch of grease on the lower bearing and I removed the upper and put on a bunch of grease and then reassembled in reverse order.

The most important part of the reassembly was getting the pre-load correct to remove the movement and clunk but also to make sure the bearings moved smoothly side to side.

I took the bike out and can now ride with no shimmy and any speed, hard front braking is steady and slow speed riding is fine.

So I suggest checking your bike if you feel anything like I did. It progressed in amplitude quickly over about a week and could have been dangerous.

Happy Riding!

Joe

Jay In Milpitas · 09-25-2017, 04:34 AM

Excellent report, Joe!

Inroads · 09-25-2017, 08:40 AM

^^^ Hey Joe could the problem have been fixed in the field by hammering

The steering stem nut tight with a screwdriver or pin punch ? Couldn’t the play

Be felt by grabbing the bottom of the forks and moving them fore and aft ?

I have always tightened until handlebars won’t fall side to side and then back

Off slightly till they do.

pyoungbl · 09-25-2017, 10:22 AM

fj, thanks for the heads up. Did you consider changing your bearings while you had things apart? I remember a thread some time ago that talked about the rear wheel bearings being less than wonderful. The solution was to replace with high quality bearings. Now CSC even offers wheel bearing kits for that very reason.

Last week I replaced two of the rear wheel bearings on my RX3. One had a tiny bit of roughness...maybe just my imagination....but since I had the replacement parts on hand I made the switch. If anyone has the bearing numbers for those steering head bearings I would order a set for future use.

Peter Y.

fjmartin · 09-25-2017, 12:40 PM

James, I watched some videos on adjusting the bearing pre load and on those bikes the preload nut was accompanied by a stop nut to lock it in place. Just like the setup on the rear shock. On the RX3 the preload nut is pinched in place by the top of the triple clamp so I would have had to loosen everything up anyway...maybe it would have still worked to hit it but didn’t want to try as I wanted to feel the bearing and apply some grease.

Peter, the bearings felt great so I didn’t feel they needed to be replaced plus this procedure kept me from having to do a lot more work to fully pull the forks and drop out the lower portion of the triple clamp to get to the lower bearing. I’ll check them again for smoothness when I hit 25K and change out the fork oil.

09-25-2017, 12:49 AM	#1
fjmartin Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Redmond, WA. Posts: 534	Wiggles and Shimmies I started to notice a couple of things of concern with my RX3 recently. 1) When going about 30 miles per hour if I loosen my grip on the bars they start wiggling back and forth and grow until I grab on. 2) When using the front brake the bike was shimmying forcing me to use mostly rear brake 3) Bike wasn't feeling steady going down the road. 4) slow speed maneuvering caused "head shaking" So, I put the bike up on the center stand and put weight on the rear of the bike to keep the front wheel off the ground. I grabbed the front wheel and pulled it and there was movement and a clunk. I check the wheel bearings and shock and then the steering area. Turned out it was coming from the top of the triple clamp. The maint schedule for checking over the steering bearings is 12000 miles and I'm at 13,6100. I wanted to wait until deep winter to do this project as I was a bit timid to work on this part of the bike. But I decided to dive in and it only took 3 hours soup to nuts to get things fixed. I started by removing my RAM mounts and then putting some towels around the tank and plastics. I marked the bars and clamp to make sure to get the bars back to the same spot. I unbolted the handlebar clamps and laid them down on the tank. I then removed the two bolts that hold the handlebar base. I then removed the two screws for the plastic cap around the ignition and removed the plastic. I unscrewed the silver cap and washer I then loosened the two hex bolts on each side of the top of the triple clamp holding the shocks. Once I did that I could pull up and remove the top triple clamp. Then I was able to remove the bearing pre-load nut. Once I did this the front wheel and forks dropped down. This allowed me to reach under and put a bunch of grease on the lower bearing and I removed the upper and put on a bunch of grease and then reassembled in reverse order. The most important part of the reassembly was getting the pre-load correct to remove the movement and clunk but also to make sure the bearings moved smoothly side to side. I took the bike out and can now ride with no shimmy and any speed, hard front braking is steady and slow speed riding is fine. So I suggest checking your bike if you feel anything like I did. It progressed in amplitude quickly over about a week and could have been dangerous. Happy Riding! Joe __________________ 2017 BMW F800GS Adventure
	3

09-25-2017, 04:34 AM	#2
Jay In Milpitas Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Milpitas, CA. USA Posts: 775	Excellent report, Joe! __________________ Horse holder at Madame Orr's House.
	0

09-25-2017, 12:40 PM	#5
fjmartin Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Redmond, WA. Posts: 534	James, I watched some videos on adjusting the bearing pre load and on those bikes the preload nut was accompanied by a stop nut to lock it in place. Just like the setup on the rear shock. On the RX3 the preload nut is pinched in place by the top of the triple clamp so I would have had to loosen everything up anyway...maybe it would have still worked to hit it but didn’t want to try as I wanted to feel the bearing and apply some grease. Peter, the bearings felt great so I didn’t feel they needed to be replaced plus this procedure kept me from having to do a lot more work to fully pull the forks and drop out the lower portion of the triple clamp to get to the lower bearing. I’ll check them again for smoothness when I hit 25K and change out the fork oil. __________________ 2017 BMW F800GS Adventure
	1

09-25-2017, 08:40 AM	#3
Inroads Join Date: May 2015 Location: Wimberley Texas Posts: 193	^^^ Hey Joe could the problem have been fixed in the field by hammering The steering stem nut tight with a screwdriver or pin punch ? Couldn’t the play Be felt by grabbing the bottom of the forks and moving them fore and aft ? I have always tightened until handlebars won’t fall side to side and then back Off slightly till they do.
	0

09-25-2017, 10:22 AM	#4
pyoungbl Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Portsmouth, Virginia, USA Posts: 632	fj, thanks for the heads up. Did you consider changing your bearings while you had things apart? I remember a thread some time ago that talked about the rear wheel bearings being less than wonderful. The solution was to replace with high quality bearings. Now CSC even offers wheel bearing kits for that very reason. Last week I replaced two of the rear wheel bearings on my RX3. One had a tiny bit of roughness...maybe just my imagination....but since I had the replacement parts on hand I made the switch. If anyone has the bearing numbers for those steering head bearings I would order a set for future use. Peter Y.
	0